fastflight1

Being from PA I would consider a buck that dresses out at 150lbs to be a nice buck with all the hunting pressure. Last year there was a buck shot in Crawford County that scored in the 160's and dressed out real close to that.

I must say it's news to me they have bucks in Texas dressing out in the 200's not from pens. I thought to get up in that body class whitetails have to be from up north like Wisconsin, Canada, Minnesota, and Maine where the Benoits have tagged a few that dressed real close to 250lbs. Now thats huge! Just about 300lbs on the hoof with a track the size of your hand.

PABowhntr

I have taken one buck that I would call "mature". It was an eight pointer...about 160 pounds. I do believe I saw it prior to the harvest but cannot say for sure. I took it the first week of our archery season. I believe it was either October 5th or 6th...several years ago.

Legacy357

this year i shot 155lb field dressed 9 point that i was guessing was a 3.5 year old. I saw him once in a field right before dark after some rain storms and the other time in late october in the same field with a doe at 4:45 am. Next time i saw him, i was on stand on Nov. 10th and he was 28 yards away quartering slightly away, and soon i will be able to see him every day

Straightarrow

I've never even seen a mature buck (4.5 plus years) while bowhunting. I live and hunt in an area where "iif it's brown it's down" is a creed among most local hunters. There are some shot here each year, but when you consider the counties' annual deer take is in the range of 16,000, it's pitifully few.

wolfen68

I would guage maturity as age and nothing else...the older they get the smarter they get...weight & antlers are variables that are not nearly as directly related to maturity as is age and experience.

But to answer your question, of the 6 mature bucks I've taken, only one had I seen before and I had rattled him in to about 30 yards but he busted me with antlers in hand and bow on the hanger. About two weeks later I killed him a hundred yards or so from where I had seen him the first time. He scored 172 and field dressed 195...I had him aged and he was 4.5 years old.

WV Hunter

Ditto what Wolfen said. AGE is the determining factor of maturity, not body weight or antler size. Granted, both of those usually increase with age...but also vary greatly from area to area. A 5 1/2 year old buck where I hunt would be rare to make P&Y minimums and 150lbs dressed. That same deer in another area may be pushing 250lbs dressed and sporting B&C antlers.

I've killed 2 mature bucks in my life...both aged at 3 1/2. I never saw either of them before, they were both killed in Nov.

buckeye

I know age is the one and only factor that determins a mature buck.

Not everyone has had their deer aged by a biologist but most everyone weighs their deer. That is why I also added the 150 lb option, not to start debates over what makes and does not make a mature animal


The results of this thread is exactly how I thought they would be. Nearly all of the shot oppertunities were first encounters

Any more input would be appericiated also. Thanks.

IL-Cornfed

I always find it very interesting to see stats from other "mature" deer from around the country. Of course I realize here in the midwests corn-belt, our bucks tend to run on the heavy side and it is not that uncommon to have mature bucks (3 1/2+) weigh over 300# on the hoof. Granted, I would MUCH rather give up the poundage for more inches of horn on every buck I take. I've also noticed that our huge antlered bucks usually have smaller bodies. No doubt, the extra nutrition doesn't have to sustain the larger body so it can be directed to more impressive headgear. I remember a few years ago when Bill Brown brought his 251 6/8" former state record archery buck to the locker. That buck was a little bodied dude and probably wouldn't have went 190#. I've seen several B&C class bucks that weighed only 175 to 200# dressed. BUT, I've also seen many 140" to 150" bucks weigh over 250#. I've taken 2 different buck that have dressed over 260# but they only had 150 class antlers, nothing really impressive. Keep posting those weights and scores, I love seeing them. It would also be cool if some of ya would post some pics of some of these deer as well.

buckeye

I agree[8D]

tiogahunter56

I shot a 7 1/2 year old buck 2 years ago and he only went about 155lb i think it is just the area that u hunt and how much quality food is in the area.